Honouring and celebrating the volunteers who support me in my role

I held an event on Thursday 15 May, at Police Headquarters to thank and celebrate all the volunteers who support me and my office, including volunteers from the Independent Scrutiny of Police Complaints Panel, the Independent Scrutiny of Police Powers Panel, the Independent Scrutiny Board for Tackling Disproportionality, the Out of Court Disposals Panel as well as Independent Custody Visitors.

Volunteers were shown a video celebrating their input and were then treated to a display from Police Dog Unit Sergeant Nick Dalrymple and his Police Dog.

The day was an opportunity for me to thank each volunteer directly for the critical role they play in improving accountability and public confidence in policing.

I was also honoured to present, alongside Sally Fox – Director of Performance and Accountability, two of our volunteers with their long-service awards, in recognition of their dedication to their roles for over 10 years. Simon Barnes is a volunteer with our Complaints Panel and Linda Cunningham with our Complaints Panel and Police Powers Panel.

Across Avon and Somerset, 66 OPCC volunteers give their time, energy, and expertise week-in, week-out – to scrutinise policing practices, challenge where things aren’t right, and support learning and improvement.

Each volunteer that supports me in my role, plays an important part in helping me and my office hold the police to account. They do this not for recognition or reward, but because they care – about fairness, about transparency, about justice, and about community.
 
Whether it’s watching hours of footage of police using force – often confronting and difficult moments – to assess whether as lay people they feel their actions were proportionate and justified; or visiting custody suites during the day and at night, to observe how people were being treated; or reviewing complaints, challenging gaps in evidence, and asking the uncomfortable questions that help us all do better – our volunteers are helping to make our communities safer and more secure. I am deeply grateful for their ongoing support.

If you’d like to join our volunteers in helping to shape policing, please find out more about the current volunteer opportunities available.